On the Distribution and the Cactiphilic Niche of Drosophila martensis in Venezuela

Abstract

Drosophila martensis Wasserman and Wilson is shown to be a cactiphilic fly, emerging from five species of cacti: Ritterocereus griseus, Subpilocereus repandus, Acanthocereus tetragonus, Opuntia elatior, and 0. ficus-indica. Thus, it can be considered a polyphagic species. The known distribution of D. martensis includes localities as distant as 900 km on an east-west axis in Venezuela, and gene flow seems to occur freely between the sampled populations. It is suggested that D. martensis is an opportunistic invader fly, and that population interfertility and polyphagy are concomitant phenomena for the species.

Phylogenetic utility of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase gene: Molecular evolution of the Drosophila buzzatii species complex

“…Both the martensis and buzzatii clusters are predominantly South American in distribution (except for D. buzzatii which is now subcosmopolitan), with the stalkeri cluster restricted to Florida and the Caribbean. They are all cactus feeding flies as far as is known, although very little work has yet been done on their ecology (Sene et al 1982;Pereira et al 1983;Benado et al 1984).…”